MENLO PARK -- Facebook is refreshing its News Feed with a visually striking new design, unveiled Thursday, that's intended to draw users more deeply into the social network.

The makeover of what is essentially Facebook's main page -- where users go to see updates and posts from their friends -- includes bigger pictures, curated updates and a choice of optional feeds for users who want to focus on specific topics such as music, photos or just chronological posts from friends or businesses they have "liked."

Analysts and Facebook executives said the changes should help Facebook build its advertising business, by allowing more visually striking ads and providing more opportunities to show those ads to users. But CEO Mark Zuckerberg told reporters the company doesn't plan to suddenly stuff more ads into the News Feed.

Facebook is hoping the new design -- which includes some features already used by rivals such as Google (GOOG)+ and Twitter -- will keep people from feeling burned out or overwhelmed by the mountains of photos, links and updates from games and apps that Facebook's 1 billion users post to the social network every day. Analysts have warned that "Facebook fatigue" could be a threat to the company's future success.

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Comparing the world's largest social networking site to "the best personalized newspaper in the world," Zuckerberg compared the main News Feed to a newspaper's front page, showing an array of items that Facebook's algorithms select personally for each user. He said the new specialized feeds are like newspaper sections devoted to specific topics.

"We believe the best personalized newspaper should have a broad diversity of content," Zuckerberg added, explaining the new design is part of Facebook's goal to be the primary platform that people use to post their own material as well as links from other social networks, websites and apps.

News Feed has always been the primary landing spot for Facebook users, but the material they post is changing. Two years ago, photos represented only about 25 percent of the items posted, while today they are nearly 50 percent, Zuckerberg said. Nearly 30 percent of items posted are now links to other sites, ranging from news items to video clips or even Pinterest collections.

With the new design, photos posted by users will be larger and stand out against a cleaner background. Links to other sites will include a bigger photo, more prominent headline and even the logo of the original site.

Some of those elements can already be seen on other social networks, including Google+. Facebook's new design also borrows from its own interface for smartphones, which is more streamlined than the News Feed that appears on desktop screens. The new design is intended to have a much more consistent appearance, with slight variations, on all sizes and kinds of screens.

Facebook is also adding new kinds of curated posts: A calendar feature will tell users about upcoming events or things to do, based on their interests and friends' recommendations. Another will provide a quick digest of items, such as headlines from a favorite news site or news about a famous person that the user has "liked."

The redesign is the biggest upgrade to Facebook's News Feed in nearly two years. Previous revisions have sparked a backlash from people who didn't like changing from what they were used to. But Facebook executives said this redesign responds to users' requests and will be introduced gradually, so they can take feedback into account.

By offering a choice of specialized feeds, Facebook is also responding to complaints from some users who believe Facebook's software isn't showing their posts to enough of their friends. While the main News Feed gives priority to posts that Facebook calculates are most "relevant" to each user, the specialized feeds let users see every post, in chronological order, from friends or companies they follow.

Facebook's advertising will also incorporate the new visual elements, such as prominent photos, according to design director Julie Zhuo. And while many Facebook ads now appear on the right side of desktop screens, analysts said they expect to see more commercial messages in the News Feed itself, where Facebook has successfully shown ads to smartphone users

Advertisers should like the greater emphasis on visual display, as well as the opportunity to place ads in specialized news feeds, Arvind Bhatia, a financial analyst for Sterne Agee, said in an email.

Contact Brandon Bailey at 408-920-5022; follow him at Twitter.com/BrandonBailey.

news feed changes

Facebook's new-look News Feed is designed to be a "personalized newspaper" with new features that include:Larger and more vibrant photos and videos.Bigger headlines and more content summarizing the stories your friends share.Curated posts that show "trending" news about a favorite celebrity, a digest of updates from a favorite site or a list of events or activities based on a user's likes and friends' recommendations.The ability to toggle between several different news feeds, such as "All Friends," which will show Facebook users everything their friends are sharing; "Photos," which includes only photos from friends; a "Music" feed of posts about the music you listen to; and "Following," a feed offering updated news from both pages and people you follow.A more unified look between desk-top and mobile devices that will make it easier for mobile users to access News Feed functions. For instance, Facebook's left-hand menu will now be available on tablets and smart phones.More prominence for third-party apps, such as Pinterest.Facebook introduced the new News Feed to a limited number of users Thursday, while opening up a waiting list at www.facebook.com/newsfeed. It will be rolled out to iPhone and iPad users in the next few weeks, followed by Android users.